It was Ale Smidts, professor of marketing research and director of the Erasmus Centre for Neuroeconomics in Rotterdam, who coined the term in 2002. This form of marketing has attracted more and more companies since its inception and has evolved in the search for efficiency and expansion.
did you know that, on average, we see 3000 advertisements a day? Just look around you, and you will see that advertising is everywhere: on the Internet, social networks, billboards, TV, radio, etc. Faced with this large number of ads, our brain selects only a few that it will remember more than others. So what makes a good ad stand out? It depends on several factors: the audience you want to reach, the age of this audience, whether they are students or workers, whether they are men or women, etc. This reflects that the first step in creating effective advertising is to know who you are talking to.
what is neuromarketing?
Neuromarketing is a new area of research that studies brain activity in response to marketing stimuli. In this context, the brain's reactions and the areas affected during exposure to advertising messages are observed, making it possible to measure the emotional reactions and effectiveness of an advertisement, a brand or a product.
In other words, neuromarketing is the application of neuroscience to marketing. This process involves the direct use of brain imaging, scanning or other technology to measure brain activity. It happens that, in some cases, the brain responses measured by these techniques can be perceived unconsciously by the subject. The truth is that these data are more revealing than surveys, focus groups or other types of data collection methods.
how is neuromarketing applied?
Below, we will show you some examples of neuromarketing strategies that some companies apply to reach their consumers:
A clear example is that, in 2002, several consumers carried out a blind test to know their preference between the taste of Pepsi and Coca-Cola. The results showed that the attendees preferred the taste of Pepsi. However, a second test with their eyes uncovered showed that Coca-Cola is the favourite. We call this "The power of the brand". And don't forget that Coca-Cola is not just a drink, but it gives you "happiness".
Another company that applies neuromarketing is the fast food restaurant chain Five Guys. And how do they do it? By getting into the consumer's mind without them realising what is happening through the power of "Free", i.e. giving toppings to customers to make them feel more satisfied. In this way they convey the idea that they are enjoying a more comfortable and flexible experience. They also apply the idea of satisfaction by placing ratings on the walls, which customers can read, in order to increase their interest.
Another interesting example is the case of the TV company The Weather Channel who, realising that viewers' opinions about TV content were not very honest, decided to use the technique of retina and skin recording to discover potential users' reactions to the content they were shown. This allowed them to produce content that matched viewers' tastes and to maintain their audience.
Without going any further, have you ever wondered why supermarket chains play relaxing music in the background? They want you to feel at ease, to take your time when deciding and to stay longer, so you might buy more products than you really need. And in youth clothing shops, the music is more upbeat, party music, they want you to feel part of the party and they are looking for you to act, they don't want you to think. In supermarkets, by playing that typical relaxing music in the background, they are encouraging the feeling of relaxation and in clothing shops the feeling of immediacy. Next time you visit a supermarket, pay attention to the music and the time you take shopping.
have you ever calculated how many hours a day you spend on this app? The creative content, with music, colours and the possibility of interaction, activates various parts of our brain to enable greater retention of information and learning. This information is then used in neuromarketing for decision making within companies. Tik Tok also brings brands closer to their users through direct communication. In this way they increase their visibility in the young audience. Aspects such as intonation, body language or music are present in Tik Tok videos and these capture the attention of users both consciously and unconsciously.
These are some of the neuromarketing techniques that brands apply and with which they fill us with information in order to transmit positive sensations with the sole purpose of returning to them.
5 advantages of neuromarketing:
One of the advantages of neuromarketing is to allow companies to learn about the emotions that their consumers experience when buying. Thanks to this method, valuable information is obtained for brands, allowing them to implement more precise marketing and sales strategies. In addition, companies can adapt their advertising and products to meet the needs and expectations of consumers.
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emotional engagement with new insights
Marketers and advertisers are evolving with new ideas and insights. Neuromarketing can measure the poor quality of design and video in terms of attention, emotion and recall. Neuromarketing research can be very thorough. With its precision, it can provide insights into how to design images to better capture consumer attention, how best to edit an ad to make key information stick in people's minds, and which design elements will generate the desired emotion.
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eliciting emotional and non-conscious responses
Every day, human beings are capable of experiencing different emotions, some of which are fleeting or more lasting, while others are imperceptible. Another advantage of neuromarketing is that it allows us to understand consumer behaviour at the moment of purchase. Through neuromarketing methods, it is possible to identify the factors that trigger emotional responses in the consumer. This also helps to determine the key elements to generate emotions that are the link between the brand and the consumer.
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boosting brand image
Neuromarketing helps to focus the communication and branding of the brand on the real needs of the consumer, thanks to specific data about the emotions generated by the messages sent by the company and the needs that the products can satisfy. Thanks to neuromarketing, your company will be able to carry out campaigns that meet the needs of the consumer, leaving aside intrusive advertisements in order to create engagement.
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evaluating fleeting reactions that people no longer remember
Traditional question-based methods are not as accurate as neurological measurements, but they can capture responses in real time, providing valuable results on how best to edit an advert to make an impact on the consumer's mind and stay there. For example, when we watch a TV advert, the muscles in our face move involuntarily in reaction to what we are seeing and some of our expressions are difficult to detect with the naked eye. In this case, electromyography is used as an indicator of reactions to stimuli, allowing us to know what feeling the stimulus gives us, indicating whether the response is going to be positive or negative.
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maximises product quality
Another advantage of neuromarketing is that it improves the user experience. Remember we talked about the blind test above to find out the preference between the taste of Pepsi and Coca-Cola? This is a clear example of how brand-related thoughts and emotions influence the perception of product quality. In one second, before the conscious mind perceives a stimulus, our subconscious has already begun to process it and respond. Neuromarketing focuses on that second in which the response is first formed.
Nowadays, neuromarketing is a widely used trend, but we must not forget that using this method entails a great responsibility and a strong investment. As we have seen, this strategy can help to obtain specific data in order to provide the consumer with what he/she wants and, thus, meet his/her expectations.
Now it's your turn, do you trust neuromarketing as a strategy for your brand, would you apply it in your company?
